It’s one preseason game. It’s the first preseason game. To take any sort of expectations out of a game played in early August would be utterly foolish. There are still things we can look at following the New York Giants 17-13 victory over the Buffalo Bills in the Hall of Fame game in Canton Sunday evening.
For example, Jeff Tuel, not Thaddeus Lewis, received snaps under center with the Bills second-team offense. That’s something to look at moving forward this preseason. The more interesting aspect of this meaningless game is that Giants rookie running back Andre Williams received a bulk of their second-team snaps over veteran Peyton Hillis. And he was incredibly impressive in the process.
TOUCHDOWN! NYG takes a 7-3 lead on a 3yd TD run by Andre Williams! Williams & Jennings combined for 61yds on drive! pic.twitter.com/ETMFM1WPuG
— New York Giants (@Giants) August 4, 2014
The rookie fourth-round pick led all running backs with 48 rushing yards on just seven attempts, including a bruising three-yard touchdown late in the first quarter to put New York on top. The Boston College product showed tremendous field vision throughout the night, continually following his blockers and finding holes between the hashes.
Giants starter Rashad Jennings was less impressive. He seemed a tad slower than what we saw last season with the Oakland Raiders and put up just 23 yards on seven attempts.
There were some who expected former Madden cover guy Peyton Hillis to get a majority of New York’s second-team reps, but that didn’t happen. While playing with the second and third teams, Hillis did average over five yards per attempt.
It’s way too early to draw any real conclusion from Williams getting second-team reps over Hillis, but it’s something to focus on moving forward. As we have seen in the past, rookie mid-round picks at the running back position have had success in the NFL. Williams may very well be given that opportunity in 2014 if he continues to play at this level leading up to Week 1.
Photo: ESPN.com